Magical Mystery Tour, which was originally released on television in 1967, is an absolutely horrible film. While it may not be as culturally worthless or carry the same level of concentrated suck as (for example) your average Harry Potter film, this movie is still garbage.

While some might say that's a harsh critique, I do believe it is at least an honest one. Hey, I love the Beatles, but not everything they touched turn to gold. The movie is only about an hour long, but it's truly difficult to watch.

OK, here's the idea (apparently). The Beatles decided to put themselves and a diverse bunch of folks on a bus, drive around and wait for something interesting to happen. Apparently, not much of interest did happen, so you wind up with a lot of "forced" bits. We find Ringo Starr's aunt dreaming of food while John Lennon shovels spaghetti on her plate. We wind up with the tourists going through a military office for some reason. We wind up with a confusing race in which people drive buses, cars and anything else they can get their hands on for no apparent reason. For some reason there are midgets all over the place. Honestly, it's hard to tell what the hell is going on most of the time and one can't help but wonder if the Beatles had any clear idea of what they were doing when they made this mess.

Meanwhile, the Beatles do break into song regularly and thank God for that. What is amazing is that Magical Mystery Tour is the clearly the result of the fevered imaginations of a bunch of rockers who were so whacked out on LSD and God only knows what else that they thought this film had some sort of merit. The solid set of songs in this film provide a sharp contrast to the movie itself -- one would guess from this wreck of a movie that the Beatles were so screwed up they didn't know where they were half the time, but they sound like the absolute geniuses they were when the music starts.

Of course, some of the musical interludes were almost ruined by the cinematography. "Fool on the Hill" features Paul McCartney mostly running around and mugging for the camera in some of the more scenic atmospheres to be found anywhere. "Flying" -- a throwaway number that blues-riffs along pleasantly -- is scarred by a bunch of washed out, monochromatic shots of, err, something and watching that sequence will make your head hurt. "Blue Jay Way" -- George Harrison's trippy, keyboard intensive number -- is pretty well destroyed by the same groovy, psychedelic cinematography that absolutely plagues this movie.

On a more positive note, "I am the Walrus" (one of the oddest numbers Lennon penned in his career) is actually entertaining here. Yes, that's an odd song and the fact the Beatles mime to it here while wearing animal masks and such actually makes sense. "Your Mother Should Know" -- a sentimental, music hall number from Paul McCartney -- fits in well, too, as the band went for a "1940s musical" treatment of the video clip for it. All those white tuxedos and World War II-era glamor suit the song nicely, in fact.

For the most part, however, this movie is hard for even a Beatles fan to love. One gets the sense that the Beatles made this movie because, well, they could and no one could stop them. There is almost no plot, no transitions to be found anywhere and it's a common thing to see the Beatles riding around bored on a bus one minute and then breaking into song on top of a mountain the next. It's fun to watch Ringo and his "aunt" bicker constantly and a couple of musical interludes are nice enough. Still, this is a major disappointment and I find it hard to believe that anyone actually gets much out of watching this thing.

And to make matters worse, the DVD transfer that I have is absolutely horrible. The colors are faded, everything looks both blurry and grainy at the same time and the sound levels tend to jump around a bit. I'm told that an "official" digital remaster is in the works, but I doubt I'll buy it. There's just not a whole lot that can help this dog of a film.

The Beatles were a lot better than this. A hell of a lot better, in fact. The movie is summed up very well by a scene in a strip club near the end. A naked stripper would have been interesting at least, but her nudity was censored. Just another disappointment in a film full of letdowns.

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older